Allotments 4 All

Writing a letter I have not tried. But I have also asked the question and offered to share costs, when the owner was still contactable, which resulted in no reply for many months.  So I didn't go there again.  Lest the owner was offended by the suggestion.  Contacts have been tried recently on GFSS, on here and on FB.   

Quote from: galina on December 12, 2025, 09:34:50But, and unfortunately it is a big but, currently the very desirable GFSS site is overrun by spam posts and my attempts to get the list owner to clean up, have gone unanswered.  As the list owner seems to be not exactly present nor contactable, we have no way to communicate in case of trouble. 

I think GFSS would be a great option, if administration could be transfered to an active member. Someone is paying for the domain and hosting, presumably on automatic payment. Once that ends we'll lose a valuable archive on information. It's a cost I'm willing to share to keep the domain active. Have you tried contacting the owner by traditional mail? If not, a letter in the post might yield results.

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Quote from: Vetivert on December 12, 2025, 13:22:23Hi Ruud, what is the species of the mayweed you included?

It is Mayweed Chamomile

I access A4A on my phone and all I get is a pop up advert image occasionally, never a video so I don't find adverts intrusive.

I've read the Growing Food Saving Seeds forum in the past but have never been able to join. I don't use Facebook and frankly I'm unwilling to join it.

So my feedback is that I'm happy to continue with A4A.

A final suggestion would be that the Gardener's Corner forum seems quite active and doesn't currently have a seed circle that I've ever noticed. They were happy to welcome people who migrated over after the Gardener's World forum was shut down.

Hi Ruud, what is the species of the mayweed you included?

I have just had a peep at GFSS there is some brilliant posts but quite a few from TEMU which I'm guessing are spam! I do WhatsApp .

I haven't found the spam too intrusive on GFSS but I think the fact that there's no contactable moderator is definitely worrying. I'm assuming that somebody is paying to maintain GFSS as, as far as I'm aware, there either has to be a payment or an acceptance of adverts. This would carry with it the risk that whoever is making a payment might withdraw that at some point without notice. Do correct me if this seems not to be the likely situation.

If we were going to use a chat medium, then I think more people use WhatsApp than Messenger and there are of course arguments against supporting Facebook (but probably WhatsApp too).

I have to concur, the ads on A4A are annoying and the PM function is unpleasant to navigate. Having said that, I only use A4A for the seed circle so it's not a deal breaker for me.

Growing Food Saving Seeds is, in my opinion, a very good "home" for the circle. I have probably read all the threads over the last few years. So much information and inspiration!

edit: just read Galina's post. It's sad... Is it possible for someone else to take over GFSS? I guess it would still need the current owner to respond and do something.

Not sure about FB.

In principle a very good idea.  And to make it work, a post on here that is monitored for replies at the start of the season and regularly answered if anybody wishes to join, is absolutely feasible.  And would allow new members to find us.

But, and unfortunately it is a big but, currently the very desirable GFSS site is overrun by spam posts and my attempts to get the list owner to clean up, have gone unanswered.  As the list owner seems to be not exactly present nor contactable, we have no way to communicate in case of trouble.  Quite unlike A4A which is supported well and where problems are generally sorted within hours or days.

Leaves the option to form a FB group.  Not very desirable, because posts may not show up reliably on member's feeds and it would need members to be proactive and check back on the right page, so they don't miss posts.  Doable however.  FB messenger, however, seems reliable and we could maybe have a group conversation on FB messenger.  Not sure exactly what search functions etc we could employ there, like we can on A4A or what other draw backs might be.  I freely admit that A4A on the phone (rather than my laptop with ad controls), has been a genuine pain during a recent hospital stay, where I had no choice but to use the phone. 

How do others see the pros and cons of what is available to us communication wise?